Eternal Tsukuyomi
by Libbeth
Summary: ONE-SHOT, A shot story inspired by manga chapter 678. It is an in-depth look into Gaara's dream while enveloped in the Eternal Tsukuyomi.


**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own Naruto

**Summary**: ONE-SHOT, A shot story inspired by manga chapter 678. It is an in-depth look into Gaara's dream while enveloped in the Eternal Tsukuyomi.

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**Enter Tsukuyomi**

Gaara struggled with all his remaining strength against the bonds of the branch. He could feel the cocoon like substance wrap around his legs and hold them tightly in place while the rest of the vines worked their way up his body. No denying it, something had gone horribly wrong during Naruto and Sasuke's fight with Madara. The last thing Gaara remembered was the moon glowing brightly against the pitch black sky, and then it turned a bloodied shade of red. The rings and sharingan remanants on the moon's surface indicated there was some sort of jutsu at play.

Unfortunately, he and the rest of his comrades had all become victim to this jutsu.

Looking down, Gaara was trying to use his sand armor to push away the substance slowly wrapping around his body. Panic was slowly forming in his eyes, but he knew he had to remain the calm one for his comrade's sake. Looking around, he saw that many of the other shinobi had been completely enveloped in the vines and the cocoons remained still, completely motionless. The thought hit Gaara that they might be dead, that the substance absorbed their chakra and life force.

No, he will not die like this!

Gritting his teeth, he summoned up the last of his strength to try and push and tear the substance away as it reached his torso every tear and every ravaging move made his efforts fruitless. His sand was useless, and his strength was spent. Defeated, he slumped into the cocoon as he watched the world disappear before him. He had been consumed by the jutsu, and he slowly shut his eyes, waiting to die. He could feel it, his lids grew heavy and his breathing slowed down. This was it, he silently wished Naruto all the best in the war as he slipped out of consciousness.

Only, he wasn't dead.

"Gaara?"

A soft voice rang through his ears. It was angelic, like the sweet sound of music in the rain. It was a voice he had never heard before, but it somehow seemed familiar. He was reluctant to respond to it, mainly due to the warmth of the blankets that covered him. Wait, blankets?

"Gaara honey, wake up."

This time, he felt a hand on his shoulder, it softly shook him and his eyelids were no longer heavy. He opened them slowly, his vision blurred. Gaara blinked a few times before everything came into focus. He inhaled slowly and a relief washed over him as he realized he wasn't dead.

His vision became clearer with every blink, and Gaara noticed that he was in… his bedroom. He noticed the familiar green and red cacti sitting on his beech coloured bedside table. Gaara moved his eyes around the room as he slowly turned over while in his bed and eventually his eyes rested on figure sitting on his bed. At first glimpse, he believed it was Yashamaru.

However, staring back at him was the most beautiful angel Gaara had ever seen. Her sandy blonde hair was swept behind her ears with a few bangs falling over her eyes. Violet orbs stared back at Gaara which were framed by long lashes. Her eyes were squinted slightly due to the fact that she had a soft, kind smile on her face. The woman reminded him of Temari slightly, but who was she? What was she doing in his bedroom? Remembering a photo from many years ago, Gaara uttered the one thing he had always wanted to call someone by.

"Mother?"

A small laugh escaped the woman as she pulled the covers off her youngest son and allowed him to sit up in his bed.

"Yes darling, did you have a nightmare?" She reached forward and smoothed his unruly red hair as he stood there silent for a moment, trying to adjust to what was going on. In his mind, he was panicking. Was this heaven? Was he dead? However, his heart was overfilled with joy and love. It gave him an unfamiliar warm feeling in the depth of his chest. These feelings made him want to smile, and never stop.

"I think so." Gaara replied truthfully. Had the last seventeen years been nothing but a nightmare? Compared this this it would seem that way.

"Never mind," his mother smiled down on him. She had a face of purity and love, "I've just made breakfast."

Before he could respond, she stood up from the bed and began to pull clothes out of his drawers. The clothes were not his normal black pantsuit and maroon over coat. Instead, it was a tan colored robe and a brown scarf and pants. they were the clothes he wore when he was a child. Why was she pulling them out? Gaara quickly slid off the bed, it was a little higher than ususal, and made his way over to the mirror in his room.

What he saw shocked him.

Before him stood a little boy of around six years old, he still held the same shaggy red hair and the blackened turquoise eyes, but there was one thing Gaara noticed that was different. He reached his hand up to feel his forehead, and realized that his 'ai' kanji was gone. Gaara recalled years ago when he used his sand to scar the symbol into his forehead, it was so that he would always be reminded to love himself. It took a long time to heal, and it made him look like even more of a freak to the other children.

'_I'm a child again?'_ Gaara thought,_ 'what trickery is this?'_

Gaara also noticed that he was wearing nothing but his underwear and a small white T-shirt. He remembered these were his normal sleeping clothes. He turned around to find his mother approaching him and she slipped his shirt off and helped him put his day clothes on. Gaara felt a little embarrassed at this, he was perfectly capable of dressing himself.

As she stood up after straightening his scarf, his mother took his hand and walked out of his bedroom and down the stairs to the dining room.

At the dining table, three figures sat eating breakfast. All three were very familiar to the small Gaara.

The first figure had sandy blonde hair just like their mother. Instead of her four usual ponytails, she only had two, and she was lazily drinking a glass of milk while watching her younger brother as he fiddled around with a small wooden doll. Temari and Kankuro, his beloved older siblings had returned to their childish forms as well. Was he the only one aware of how much time had changed? They seemed to go about their business so casually as if nothing had happened.

The third and final figure sat at the head of the table reading a scroll. Gaara grew wearisome as he noticed this figure had the same red hair and narrow eyes as he did. It was his father. Only, the man didn't have his usual scowl on his face. Instead, he was contently reading the scroll while munching on some toast. Gaara grew stiff as he watched his father's eyes move from the scroll to him, but instead of the usual look of disdain the younger red head remembered so well, he was met with a smile from his father.

"Finally Gaara, maybe we should stop letting you train so late with Temari."

Temari giggled at the sound of her name and she looked over to her youngest brother. She patted the seat next to her and Gaara instinctively moved to the chair and climbed up it to sit next to Temari at the dining table. From there, she passed him his own plate which had some bacon, toast, and one fried egg. Looking at the food, Gaara slowly and cautiously began to eat it as he watched his family function around him.

"Kankuro I thought I said no toys at the table," His mother, Karura, placed a hand on her middle son's head and gently pulled the toy from his grasp. The younger Kankuro huffed and folded his arms as he glared at his mother.

"They're puppets, mom," he complained, "I need to start learning how to make them," he replied with a huff. Something in Gaara made him smile at this situation.

"Well maybe Lady Chiyo can give you some advice?" Karura placed the wooden doll on the bench top. Gaara noticed that she spoke so lovingly towards her children. She was the epitome of grace and beauty, everything a mother should be.

As the morning progressed, Gaara's skepticism melted away, and for the first time in his life, he felt truly happy with his life, and his home.

There was one more test he needed to prove it was all real, almost too good to be true.

Walking into the family living room, Gaara spied his mother leaned back on the armchair reading a book silently. Kankuro and Temari had left the house for the day, and their father had gone to the Kazekage's office. It was just Gaara and Karura, exactly how he wanted it to be. An indulgent feeling swept over him as he approached the beautiful women reading her book.

"Mother?" he said quietly.

Karura looked up from her book, smiled, and closed it before placing the book on the end table next to her. She looked down at her son with loving eyes.

"What is it darling?"

Without giving it a second thought, his impulse took over and he ran up and hugged her legs, he tried to choke back small tears, but that didn't work.

"I love you."

Surprised, Karura placed her hands under the small Gaara's shoulders and lifted him up into her lap. She then pulled him into a hug and gently ran a hand through his redhair.

"I love you too my little sandman."

By this point, Gaara couldn't hold back his tears. He let them flow freely down his face as he let himself be cradled by his mother. The woman who gave him life, and the woman he believed he had killed in his 'nightmare' life. She was the sole woman he had always wanted to say those three sweet words to, and to hear them being spoken back to him sent him into a frenzy of happiness and prosperity.

Karura wasn't sure why her son was acting this way. He had a normal childhood just like her older three, but perhaps with Temari and Kankuro's training, he felt a little forgotten. Either way, the lady Kazekage was happy just having her youngest son in her arms. His birth was fairly difficult, she passed out just seconds after he arrived and she spent almost two days in a coma. Her husband believed she wasn't going to make it. Temari and Kankuro were in awe of their little brother, how tiny and fragile he was. However, with a lot of tender love and care, Gaara eventually made it out of the dangerous phase and he went on to become a healthy infant and now a curious six year old.

They spent the rest of the day in each other's arms. Temari and Kankuro had returned home by early afternoon and not long after their father had walked in the door. Gaara slid off his mother's lap at the sight of his father and walked up to the man who once made his life miserable.

"How was your day father?" the young boy asked.

"Busy, as usual!" With that, the fourth Kazekage lifted the tiny Gaara up and flung him over his broad shoulders, tickling his stomach. Gaara couldn't help but laugh; his father had become kind and loving as well. This was certainly becoming too good to be true, he didn't want it to end.

The afternoon was spent in the family living room. Karura had returned with drinks and snacks for her children while all three sat on the floor. Kankuro was once again fiddling with his wooden dolls while Temari and Gaara were going through a picture book together. Gaara leaned his head on his sister's shoulder as he listened to her explain the pictures and read the story to him. Their mother was seated on the couch next to her husband as they both sipped large mugs of tea. It was a perfect sight, a perfect family. Gaara's dream had come true.

"Lord Kazekage," A familiar voice echoed in the room as the family of five looked over to see Karura's brother, Yashamaru, enter with a smile on his face. The Kazekage placed a hand on his wife's shoulder before standing to meet his brother in law.

"The Fourth Hokage and his family have arrived."

Gaara silently gasped. The fourth Hokage and his family? That would mean…

Yashamaru turned to Gaara with a small smile on his face.

"Lord Gaara, your friend is here."

Standing at the door was a familiar scrawny blonde boy with bright blue eyes. His face held whisker marks and he wore a simple orange t-shirt and blue shorts. The boy came running into the room and did a quick bow towards the Kazekage before addressing Gaara.

"Heya!" Naruto said excitedly, "What game will we play today?!"

Looking around the room, Gaara left Temari's side and picked up a familiar red ball that had been sitting next to the bookshelf. He held it up and raised his eyebrows in question towards Naruto. Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto nodded with enthusiasm. As Gaara was about to rush off with Naruto, his father called out to him.

"Don't be too late, Gaara." He said.

Gaara looked back to his father and gave him a small smile "Yes."

With that, he ran out the front with the young Naruto to play together. As they approached a good clear piece of land to play kick ball, more young voices called out to Gaara.

"Heeey!" Gaara and Naruto looked over to see a group of five children their age waving to the two friends.

"Can we play too?" They asked.

Naruto looked over to Gaara, who only grinned and nodded in response.

In his world, he and Naruto were treated as freaks. They were abused and mistreated by both of their villages and as a result, they had very difficult childhoods with very little to no friends. As Jinchuriki, Gaara and Naruto looked out for one another, protected each other from the dangers of the world and with that a strong bond formed between the two. Over the years, Gaara slowly learned to control his hate and anger with Naruto's help, and he developed his own friendships with those around him.

In this world, Gaara had a chance at a normal life. He was born into a world full of love and experienced the care and attention any normal child would get from their parents. His siblings loved him, and he had many friends. There was no hate, no pain, and no suffering. Was this the world Gaara truly felt like he belonged in?

Maybe.

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RnR Please! This is only a One-Shot so there will be no more chapters to this story.


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